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Angora 



Goats 



The Wealth of the 
Wilderness 



fwenty-FIve Cents 



ANGORA GOATS 



The Wealth of the Wilderness 



BY GEORGE EDWARD ALLEN 



" THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REFUSED IS BECOME 
THE HEADSTONE OF THE CORNER." 



WELLSBORO, PA., U. S. A. 
HORACE A. FIELD & COMPANY 
1900 

Copyright, 1900, by George E, Allen 



ANGORA GOATS 

CHAPTER I. 
Scrub Uplands and Their Utility. 

Millions of acres of land in the mountain districts of 
America and along the great lakes are overgrown with brush 
and weeds. For ordinary industrial purposes they are worth- 
less. A permanent revenue of even a few cents an acre from 
this vast territory would add millions, if not billions, to the 
wealth of the country. A cent a year from a piece of land as 
large as a city lot does not seem like much money, but on a val- 
uation of a dollar an acre, which is a liberal figure for brush and 
stumps, it is a greater percentage of profit than is realized from 
the best improved property in New York City. 

In building railroads, developing mines, conjuring with elec- 
tricity and making farming an advanced science, American 
genius has overlooked primitive opportunities in which nature 
does most of the necessary work and requires the minimum of 
capital and experience. The highlands of America are exactly 
adapted to raising rugged breeds of cattle, sheep and goats, such 
as inhabit the mountainous regions of the Old World, and con- 
stitute the most substantial wealth of Scotland, Turkey and 
South Africa. 

Every living creature is an evolution of environment. The 
highlands of Scotland have developed the famous Cheviot and 
Blackfaced sheep, which thrive where no other domestic ani- 
mals can live, and the rugged Galloway hills have given their 
character and name to a breed of cattle unequalled for hardihood 
and unexecelled for profit. The barren uplands of Turkey in 
Asia are the home of the Angora goat, which can subsist on the 
nearest to nothing of any animal useful to man. The climate, 
soil and vegetation of the mountain and forest districts of Ameri- 



4 ANGORA GOATS. 

ca are seemingly more suitable to these rugged animals than 
their own native lands, and unlimited opportunities are available 
for capital and industry. 

In advocating distinctly highland breeds of live stock for 
highland districts no reflection is implied upon the masters of 
breeding who have stocked our cultivated fields and fertile 
prairies. America has out-Jerseyed jersey and out-Merinoed 
France and Spain. The methods of the cultivated fields and 
prairies, however, are not the methods of the mountains, and 
the animal character of the plains is not the animal character of 
the highlands. 

When Uncle Sam had free farms for all comers, with cli- 
mate and soil to suit individual preferences, animal industry 
consisted chiefly in rinding proper locations for breeds suffi- 
ciently profitable to overbalance the expense of special care and 
feeding. Such locations are now occupied, and in addition to 
the ordinary profits of stock raising there has been a substantial 
increase in the value of land thus utilized. Even the Western 
ranges have attained a recognized worth and are rapidly passing 
into private ownership. 

In figuring the financial results of stock raising, interest on 
the value of land must be allowed and the expense of care and 
feeding must be taken into account. As land in favored loca- 
tions increases in price, opportunities previously rejected or 
overlooked must be utilized. Profits and losses depend upon 
the capital and expense accounts. The time has come when the 
stockman must adapt breeds to locations instead of hunting loca- 
tions for breeds. Under such conditions the reclamation of 
American highlands is no longer a sentiment. It is a practical 
business proposition. 

"The stone which the builders refused has become the 
headstone of the corner." This ancient adage applies with 
striking aptness not only to neglected highlands overgrown with 
brush and weeds, but to the agency which nature has provided 
for their reclamation. That agency, inexpensive and unfailing, 
as natural agencies always are, is the goat. Any kind of goat 
will clear brush land, but as it costs no more to maintain good 
goats than poor ones, Angoras and grades of this breed are 
recommended when obtainable on reasonable terms. This idea 
is of course very simple, as all great things are simple when you 



ANGORA GOATS. 5 

come to understand them. When you consider the square miles 
and square hundreds of miles of wilderness that may thus be 
made valuable, the magnitude of the idea grows upon you. 

Government authorities estimate the amount of unproduc- 
tive land in the United States at 265,000,000 acres. Relative to 
areas suitable for goat keeping upon any scale, from a few for 
milk or cheese to large flocks for their fleeces or skins, it may 
be confidently asserted that wherever there is a suitable climate 
there are also suitable uncultivated lands. Over 42 per cent, 
of the land in farms in the United States is unimproved; how 
much of it is uncultivable is unknown. The total unimproved 
land amounts to 265,000,000 acres, against more than 375,600,- 
000 improved. This presents a vast field for selection of favored 
localities in every part of the country . 

It is true that considerable portions of the unimproved farm 
land is in valuable forests, which invite preservation as such for 
various economic reasons; but it is equally true that a large 
proportion is useless as a present or prospective timber reserve, 
and can be utilized only in some such way as here suggested. In 
the aggregate, millions of acres of poor, rough, rocky, or bushy 
land, distributed through all the States, call for subjugation and 
enrichment through animal occupation, preferably of the goat, 
which would not only destroy the growth that invites recurrent 
conflagrations, but would result ultimately in the introduction of 
nutritious grasses. 

The goat is easily adaptable to all countries, and thrives in 
all climates except that of the polar regions. Evidently, how- 
ever, it will tend to be most profitable in those localities where 
the expense of keeping is the least the year round. Hardy, 
agile, enterprising, it always thrives, if unconfined, in heat or 
cold, on mountain or plain, but prefers rough, rocky, wild and 
elevated land. 



CHAPTER II. 

Government Investigations. 

The United States Department of Agriculture, at all times 
and very properly conservative, has recently and for the first 
time given serious attention to goat culture. In a bulletin writ- 



6 ANGORA GOATS. 

ten by Almont Barnes of the Division of Statistics, some inter- 
esting statements are made. Goatskins, from which is derived 
the greatest amount of the profits of goat keeping in regions 
where the largest numbers of these animals are usually raised, 
were in so little demand in the United States prior to 1864 that 
they were not separately classified for duty on importation, but 
were included with "hides and skins" of all kinds, except fur, 
which together were valued that year at $7,505,238, and paid an 
import duty of 5 per cent, ad valorem. In 1864 goatskins were 
first separately classified, being valued at $1,799,166, while the 
imported "hides" were valued at $6,177,512; and this is the start- 
ing point of their distinct and officially stated invoice value. In 
1865, with the duty doubled, importation diminished; but under 
succeeding demand and rates of duty, or, as now, duty free, up 
to June 30, 1898, importation had increased in value to $15,- 
776,601, and the increase of the fiscal year 1898 over 1897 was 
28.2 per cent. 

The foregoing are, as stated, invoice valuations, that is, 
those declared as the cost to the shipper at the foreign ports of 
shipment. For various reasons, as of insurance, handling, 
freight, commissions, profits to the shipper, etc., they are much 
below the valuations in our own markets. The average invoice 
value of desirable skins in 1898 appears to have been 24.3 cents 
per pound — $15,776,601, the invoice value, being divided by the 
invoice weight of 64,906,485 pounds. But the average market 
price (the price to purchasers for home use) of these skins in 
New York during the year of their importation was about 39.3 
cents per pound, or about 62 per cent, higher than the invoice 
value; so that the gross value of the year's importation, upon 
the basis of the average price in our home market, and at 62 per 
cent, above the invoice value, was $25,508,249. This is what 
the consumers really paid, and it is therefore the real value of 
the skins imported, rather than that expressed in the invoices. 

Practically all the goatskins entering into the commerce 
and manufacture of the United States are imported. With the 
exception of that portion of the population and its increase 
mostly upon territory derived from Spain and Mexico, the peo- 
ple of this country have not usually evinced any interest in goat 
herding for profit, either of skins or other products. There have 
been for centuries small herds in the sparsely populated western 



ANGORA GOATS. 7 

territory indicated, and, besides, a not inconsiderable number of 
goats in the aggregate has been kept for milk in the suburbs of 

cities. 

In goat keeping on a large scale it is not alone the skins 
and fleeces which enter into the account of profit, although these 
are primary, especially for distant markets. If the skins, which 
represent over fifteen millions of invoice and twenty-five mil- 
lions of market value in importations, represented native stock, 
there would be taken additionally into the home market and 
possibly profit account nearly the whole animal — the flesh, tal- 
low, bones, hoofs, horns, and perhaps the intestines and their 
contents, which together may constitute half or more of the 
entire marketable value. 

These specified objects roughly, but perhaps sufficiently, 
indicate the classes of domesticated goats prevalent in various 
countries, and inferentially the conditions attending their pre- 
valence. As the greatest market demand is for skins, the largest 
herds in various countries are kept to meet that demand, and 
as the demand relates less to breeding than to abundance, the 
common goat (that least modified from the native stock) most 
economically and profitably meets the requirement. Common 
goats need the least care and require only the cheapest and most 
primitive pasturage — bushes and weeds. They furnish a prod- 
uct of world-wide use, not dependent upon any kind of culture 
for its availability or excellence. Wherever they can be stocked 
upon unused or otherwise unusable lands, with the rude and 
slight care required, they are almost gratuitouslv nrofitable. 
Thus, the price paid for imported goatskins is less representa- 
tive of cost of production than of the commercial sagacity of 
the producers and their appreciation of the needs of the market, 
and suggests an enviable margin of profit. The price above 
cost paid by consumers of this country is the gratuity paid to 
foreign producers, importers, etc., because of lack of enterprise, 
ignorance, or wasteful prejudice. The market price of an article 
is sensibly affected by nomenclature. In coffees, for instance, 
an additional price is paid for the names of Mocha and Java, 
though official statistics show, and facts of production and 
movement confirm, that not a pound of Mocha coffee has been 
introduced into this country for at least fifty years, and, com- 
pared with the supposed consumption, but little of Java for 



8 ANGORA GOATS. 

twenty-five years. So also are paid higher prices for so-called 
Curacao kid and goat skins and goods, while the arid island of 
Curacao, not 15 miles long nor 4 miles wide, having but two 
fresh-water springs and not 5,000 goats, receives its supplies of 
skins from adjacent parts of Venezuela and Colombia, which 
make Curacao their foreign shipping port. 

Common goats are, of course, the most numerous class 
wherever skins are the principal object sought, and they furnish, 
besides, the milk and meat required by their owners or keep- 
ers. Next to these in aggregate number are the goats kept 
primarily for dairy products, in flocks or singly, over a large 
part of the world. This class includes select common stock, just 
as numbers of American dairy herds are made up wholly or in 
part of select cows from stock not artificially modified; but in 
particular it includes certain strains naturally possessing high 
milking qualities, as the Nubian, and kindred or similar breeds 
of Bengal and China, to which must be added classes bred with 
continuous care to the same end, as the goats of Malta, France, 
Switzerland, and, in recent years, of England. The Nubian an</ 
Bengalese goats are said to be much alike and most excellent 
dairy breeds, but unfit to stand exposure in cold countries. 
Some have a record of nearly a gallon of milk per day while in 
full milk. 

The Agriculture Department summarizes the subject of 
"Keeping Goats for Profit" as follows: 

(1) The United States imports a large and steadily increas- 
ing amount of goatskins for necessary use in home manufac- 
tures and produces comparatively none. The invoice value of 
these imports is at present over $15,500,000 a year and the mar- 
ket value probably over $25,500,000. 

(2) There is an aggregate area of over 265,000,000 acres 
of unimproved farm land outside of Alaska and recently ac- 
quired dependencies (more than the area of the original States 
and the Louisiana Purchase), a large proportion of which is 
suitable for the maintenance of goats. Being surplus farm land 
relative to present cultivation, this land is distributed evenly 
with the regular rural labor of the country. It also, according 
to location, embraces the climate of all the country except, as 
stated, Alaska and the new dependencies, which nowhere is 
dertimental to animal industries generally or to goat keeping in 



ANGORA GOATS. 9 

particular. The general features of land, labor, and climate, 
therefore, and of distribution are singularly favorable. 

(3) Over 162,000,000 acres of this unimproved farm land, or 
over 61 per cent, (nearly as great an area as that of Texas) is 
the agriculturally unproductive surplus of farms of a continuous 
area having more than average favorable conditions as to rela- 
tive amount, distribution of labor, and climate. This area is con- 
tained in the South Atlantic and South Central and a part of the 
Western divisions of the country. It now contains nearly all 
the herds of common and specialized breeds of goats kept by 
the people. 

(4) All the favorable conditions are emphasized in much of 
the large area containing the densest negro population by rea- 
son of the class and abundance of the labor element and circum- 
stances which render the adoption of an additional or new rural 
industry easy and undisturbing. They are also strongly em- 
phasized by the prevalence of mountain chains through much 
of the area, and these are the favorite pasture ranges of the 
goat. 

(5) The general and special favorable conditions herein 
shown are verified by all the testimony of goat raisers, some 
of which has been given, relating to Angoras and to goats for 
milk. Altogether the evidence seems conclusive that it would 
be easy and relatively inexpensive to furnish the home market 
with the increasing millions of dollars' worth of skins demanded 
year by year in our manufactures and so far furnished by coun- 
tries which buy little from the United States. As the by-pro- 
ducts of goat keeping may be made to cover all its cost, the 
value of the goat products now imported (more than $25,000,000 
per year) is a clear premium offered to their home production, a 
premium to rural industries. 



CHAPTER III. 

How to Clear Brush Land. 

Goats are by nature browsers and not grazers. They can 
be depended upon to destroy the many undesirable products of 
cultivated and fallow lands, the abundant and persistent weedy 



IO 



ANGORA GOATS. 



vegetation which so incessantly besets the cultivated crops. 
Other domestic animals prefer the cereals and grasses which 
depend upon the labor and care of the husbandman. What 
these reject goats prefer and cheerfully pass by growing grass 
and grain for a constant dessert of wild carrot, burdock, mul- 
lein, or for thistle or cactus. Goats thus voluntarily clean fields 
of their vegetative refuse before it ripens and scatters its seed; 
and so persistently and impartially is this done that the latent 
seeds of valuable grasses, improving the chance thus given 
them to sprout and thrive, often follow the second or third year 
of good pasturage with a uniform carpet, clean as if made to 
order. 

Dr. J. R. Standley, of Iowa, is the leader in land reclamation 
by the use of Angora goats. "Land can be cleared of the worst 
brush known to this country," says he, "for a little less than 
nothing, by Angora goats. Some one asks how. Simply this, 
Angora goats will pay a profit and live on leaves and weeds, 
leaving the land cleaner and nicer than can be done in any other 
way. Many persons have the idea that goats bark the trees and 
in that way kill them. They also think that goats wholly eat the 
hazel and other small brush. There is nothing in this. Goats 
are no worse to bark trees of any kind than sheep. The way 
in which goats kill brush is by continually cropping the leaves, 
which serve as the lungs of the brush. The continued cropping 
of the leaves makes the brush as it were sick, caused by lack of 
nourishment. This sickness sinks to the very extremity of the 
roots, thus preventing sprouting. Any and all kinds of bushes 
are in this way easily killed. Some kinds of brush and some 
kinds of stumps are of course much harder to kill than others. 
Many varieties are entirely killed by one summer's trimming 
of the leaves. Almost any are killed by two years' trimming. To 
clear the worst brush do not cut anything that the goats can 
reach or bend. The tallest or largest hazel is better not cut. 
All trees and saplings should be cut, and the goats will keep all 
the sprouts down. If stumps are allowed to sprout one year be- 
fore the goats are turned in, the sprouts need not be cut. About 
200 goats for forty acres of brush will in two or three years make 
the land as clean as a garden. If the pasture has only patches 
of brush, turn in a few goats and it will make more grass for 
other stock than if the goats were not in. They eat very little 



ANGORA GOATS. n 

grass when they can get leaves. Goats even like weeds better 
than grass. In clearing brush land in the old way by grub and 
plow, there are always left many eyesores in the way of brushy 
nooks and bends and steep places which cannot be plowed." 

"There are millions of acres of land in nearly every State in 
the Union," says Dr. Standley, "which might be much more 
than doubled in value by the use of Angora goats at no cost at 
all. Commence and count the worth of your land, then the 
fencing, and see if you can afford to leave your brush land so 
nearly worthless for all time. Then count the cost of grubbing 
and plowing, if indeed such land is susceptible to the plow. No 
man can afford to grub and plow brush land in this day and age 
of the world, any more than he can afford to plant a large field 
of corn without a planter. In hilly or mountainous portions of 
country, the Angora goat can be made to do a great service in 
the way of clearing the underbrush when the land will bring 
grass after the brush is gone. It would surely be a paying busi- 
ness to buy up large tracts of rough land in the mountain dis- 
tricts, or indeed any brush land in the United States, and clear 
the brush and set in grass. Afterward, if the owner liked other 
stock better he might dispense with the Angoras. In many 
places where the country is too bare to furnish sheep with suffi- 
cient feed, goats will do exceedingly well. In many places where 
leaves are abundant and there is scarcely any grass, making it 
impossible to profitably keep sheep, goats will do admirablv 
well." 

Col. William L. Black, in his comprehensive treatise on 
"The Angora Goat and Mohair Industry of the United States," 
says : "The brush question is a most serious one in a great 
many of our States. As long as land can be kept under culti- 
vation the brush can be kept down ; but, when it is once thrown 
open to pasture, briars and brush of all description begin to 
grow, and soon cover the entire surface. Even in our own 
State of Texas many millions of acres in the West are growing 
up into brush thickets, and will, sooner or later, become worth- 
less for pasturing cattle ; and, in many of the Western Territories 
the same conditions exist. It is supposed that this has been 
produced by an increase in the rainfall; but, I am inclined to 
think it is not altogether due to this fact. That brush and trees 
are indigenous to many of our, so-called, arid districts can be 



12 ANGORA GOATS. 

very easily proven by the great quantities of roots that the pres- 
ent inhabitants dig out of the ground for fuel purposes. Not a 
tree can be seen for hundreds of miles, yet these great roots can 
be found almost everywhere, on the prairies, and are a substan- 
tial witness to the fact that there was an abundance of trees 
there at some time or other. Before this portion of the United 
States was occupied by the white man it was a common practice 
of the Indians to burn the high prairie grass every fall, or win- 
ter, in order to hunt wild game that was so abundant in this part 
of the country. Buffalo and deer were as common then as cat- 
tle and sheep are now, but the grass was so high, in places, they 
could not be seen, and the Indian would burn it off to be able to 
hunt them more readily. This, undoubtedly, destroyed much 
of the growth of trees ; and, in my opinion, is the true explana- 
tion of the roots that are now found in many parts of west Texas, 
New Mexico and other Western Territories. 

"The question is a very important one, and if the goat can 
be used to keep this growth back it is certainly well worth the 
attention of many of our land owners, who may, in a few years, 
find their land practically worthless. A personal friend writes 
me that: 'many pastures are growing up to oak brush and 
hazel brush in the north ; and in New England they are bothered 
with ferns (called brakes), berry bushes — blackberries, rasp- 
berries, etc. 1 This kind of fare would be 'peaches and cream' to 
a goat, and in a year or two the owner would be relieved of a 
great nuisance, the goats would grow fat, and the land would be 
restored to a proper condition for grazing other stock on it. 
Another correspondent in Massachusetts speaks of a certain 
small island that he owned which was so densely covered with 
brush as to be utterly valueless except to grow mosquitoes. I 
hear of many parts of the East that are seriously troubled with 
brush, where many thousands of acres are of no use for grazing 
purposes, and the profit in farming will not justify the cost of 
grubbing it. In the Southern States many farms have become 
worn out and are growing up into brush and weeds. The An- 
gora goat is the proper animal to employ to put these lands in a 
condition either for cultivation or grazing cattle. But a number 
of my correspondents have asked me what they could do with 
the goats after they had cleared their land. In reply to this I 



ANGORA GOATS. 13 

will say they can well afford to slaughter them and feed them 
to hogs, but this is not necessary now. The fashion has changed 
since I slaughtered goats for their hide and tallow, and there is 
no trouble in selling all the goats you send to any of our large 
meat packing markets." 



CHAPTER IV. 
Practical Goat Raising. 

Special interest attaches to Dr. Standley's Angoras from 
the fact that he purchased, after the death of Colonel Peters, the 
remnant of the flock founded upon the original importation from 
Turkey. "Nearly all the Angoras in the United States are 
grades," says Dr. Standley, "having been produced by crossing 
Angora bucks and the common Spanish goats, the first cross 
being nearly all white and much longer haired than the common 
goat, but not producing enough hair to pay for shearing. The 
second crosses (three-fourths blood) are much better and often 
shear one or two pounds of not very good hair. The third 
crosses (seven-eighths blood) are almost as good as pure bloods 
so far as meat and hair are concerned. Of course these seven- 
eighths blood bucks should never be used for breeding, as they 
are said by those best versed in the business to soon run back 
to the common goat in their progeny. 

"Angora goats require much the same care as sheep and 
much the same feed except that goats are not so dainty and 
will eat much coarser feed. They eat coarse hay and straw and 
corn fodder about as sheep, only cleaner. Experience has 
shown that wherever sheep will thrive Angora goats will do well. 
Angoras are not grazing animals like sheep, but browsers. They 
prefer leaves and weeds to nice grass. In fact they run over 
grass to get leaves and weeds. Goats eat leaves and weeds for 
feed and then grass as a condiment. Sheep eat grass for feed, 
then a few weeds for condiment. Angoras dislike rain and mud, 
though cold and even snow they care not for. In portions of the 
country where the rainfall is abundant and the soil of a nature to 



i 4 ANGORA GOATS. 

get muddy, goats should be supplied with open, dry sheds. I 
believe the better way is to have sheds so that the goats can be 
shut out at all times except during wet storms. I have adopted 
the plan of only housing in time of storms, and even then the 
house should be well ventilated and not too much crowded. If 
the goats are made too warm by crowding and imperfect ventila- 
tion, they will sweat, and then when exposed to the cold become 
chilled. It is better not to house at all than to house badly. 

"Angora goats may be bred any time from August ist to 
February ist as suits the condition of the owner. April is a 
good month for kids to come in. In this part of the world 
(Iowa), I now have adopted December as a breeding month. 
This makes the kids arrive in May, and in this climate they need 
but little attention at this season of the year. I like to have one 
buck for twenty-five does. By having one to twenty-five they 
will nearly all drop kids in one month. With one buck to fifty or 
more does they will not all get with kid so early and it will take 
two months or even more to get through the kidding season. If 
a short kidding season is no object it is possible to begin mating 
early and one buck will do for seventy-five does. The better 
way, if it can well be done, is to let the bucks in at night and put 
them in the barn or house and feed and care for them through 
the day. The does breed but once each year, and if well bred not 
many will drop twins. 

"Shearing should be done before the hair begins to shed. 
I aim to shear the first half of April, and if the season is a little 
early it is sometimes better to shear earlier. Whenever the grass 
starts in the spring and the goats get at it they will in a few days 
begin to lose their hair. When the hair commences to slip it 
takes but a short time to loose the whole fleece. The goat can 
be held and shorn the same as a sheep. It is better for the opera- 
tor to be an ambidexter, as he then can clip against the hair on 
each side of the animal. If he is only right handed one side of 
the goat will necessarily be cut with the hair (I mean with the 
lean of the hair). This will leave some very long stubble. When 
the fleece is off roll it up outside out and tie with twine. The 
ordinary flock of well graded goats will clip about two to three 
pounds. With thoroughbreds from four to five pounds are often 
averaged. Many shear from eight to twelve pounds. Does, 



ANGORA GOATS. 15 

however, seldom produce more than from six to eight pounds. 
I am sure a flock of wethers might be made to shear from six 
to eight pounds on an average. Wethers shear much heavier 
than ewes. Mohair brings about two and a half or three times 
as much as wool in the dirt, but goats do not shear more than 
about half as much in weight as sheep. 

"To breed grade ewes, always breed to the best bucks ob- 
tainable and from pure bred flocks of reliable breeders. This 
cannot always be done. Pure bucks cannot always be obtained. 
Colonel Richard Peters, who was one of the most successful 
early breeders of Angora goats, says that half-blood females 
can, with the best results, be bred to their own sires provided 
the sires have proved themselves to be good breeders. 

"Goats have cattle diseases more than sheep diseases. They 
never have inflammation of the mucous passages, and seldom 
have foot rot. They never have scab, but are frequently lousy. 
I have often read about putting a few goats with a flock of sheep 
as protection against dogs. Dogs kill goats but not so much as 
sheep. I have never had any old ones killed but have had quite 
a number of kids killed by dogs. Goats are somewhat harder 
to fence than sheep, but not so hard as hogs. Goats do not 
jump, but climb and creep. I have old-fashioned rail fences that 
turn goats perfectly. If a rail fence is made to lean from the 
goat he will climb it, no matter how high it may be, but a well 
built rail fence three and a half feet high, will keep goats per- 
fectly. A seven-wire fence, properly spaced, will turn them per- 
fectly. Two feet of woven wire and two wires above is perhaps 
the best. Goats bear flocking much better than sheep. In the 
range countries they are generally kept in flocks of from one 
thousand to four thousand. 

"I read often of the necessity of an infusion of new blood 
into our American flocks by importing from Asia. I have 
serious doubts if Asia has as good Angoras as the United States. 
The people of that country do not select and breed with any 
care. I believe that we have already in this country Angoras 
from which a most superior animal may be produced by Ameri- 
can ingenuity in selecting and mating, as has been done in the 
case of the American Merino sheep and the standard bred horse. 
While I am not averse to the introduction of new blood, I do 
not want it of an inferior quality. 



16 ANGORA GOATS. 

"It is now established beyond question that the Angora 
goat will do well in almost any part of the United States. The 
higher and dryer, the better. This to the flock master means 
much. I believe the time not far away when the Angora goat 
will be as common in the United States as the sheep, and as 
much prized. While I believe this I do not believe the goat will 
ever be substituted for the sheep. The mission of the two ani- 
mals is very different. The sheep is better in his place. The 
Angora goat better in his place. There is room for both and 
many thousand more of each." 



CHAPTER V. 

Live Stock and Location. 

W. G. Hughes, one of the leading stockmen of Texas, 
writes : ' 'What class of live stock is most profitable ?' How 
frequently does one hear this question asked by interested 
parties, and the pros and cons discussed in their various phases, 
without reference to the all-important one of character of the 
range involved. Perhaps this will tend to throw light on the 
fact that the distinctly highland types of domestic animals have 
not hitherto received adequate recognition at the hands of our 
more intelligent and well to do breeders. In our comparatively 
new continent there has been no great difficulty in obtaining for 
settlement and occupation, what have been regarded as the 'best 
lands,' by those who have had a reasonable sufficiency of means 
for securing them. By the 'best lands,' it has come to be under- 
stood, are meant those which have rich soils, generally speak- 
ing, bottom lands. The more hilly and rough areas, especially 
those which are largely covered with scrub brush, have been re- 
garded as comparatively worthless, and have lain to a great ex- 
tent unused, or have fallen to the lot of those who are not 
striving for superlative achievements, and who, by the same 
token, are not, as a rule, built to leave the beaten track of stock 
raising, and put such lands to their logically best use. Even in 
fairly well settled sections are often to be found large areas of 
hilly and broken country, covered with a stunted growth of 
herbage, which are still regarded as of but little value. In view 



ANGORA GOATS. ij 

of their accessibility and cheapness, the question naturally arises 
'to what use can they be put to get the best returns from the 
vegetation they produce?' They can only be used to a limited 
extent for the support of horses or cattle, or even sheep, and 
are as a rule at best only useful in a supplementary way for this 
purpose. 

"Of late years it has been dawning on many of those who 
have had access to this character of range, that the Angora goat, 
as a medium for the proper utilization of such lands, has been 
largely overlooked. The breeding of these animals has been for 
many years one of the leading industries in Cape Colony, South 
Africa, and it is fair to say that the interest and intelligence de- 
voted to them in that part of the world almost parallels that 
given by our breeders to the leading breeds of cattle and sheep 
in this country. What we would regard as fabulous sums have 
often been paid for imported Angora goats at the Cape, and are 
still paid for noted individuals by prominent breeders when buy- 
ing home-bred goats from one another. It is generally ad- 
mitted now that painstaking care has resulted in producing a 
standard of greater excellence in the Angora goat than exists in 
the country of its nativity. Just as we in this country have so 
improved the Spanish Merino sheep, that we would not now 
think of making further importations from Spain. By judicious 
selection and breeding, there are now many thousands of well 
bred Angora goats scattered throughout the Western and South- 
western States, principally in Texas, to which many of the origin- 
al importations into America went, and among those who have 
handled them for a series of years, they are no longer regarded 
in the light of an experiment. Their excellent and valuable qual- 
ities are rapidly becoming better known in a more general way. 
One of these characteristics is their adaptability to lands which 
have been hitherto regarded with so much disfavor. On these, 
where there is an abundance of underbrush, the goats are in 
their element. The Angora is essentially a browser, and while it 
will thrive on grassy land, it feels much more at home among 
hills and scrub brush, and on such a character of range will at- 
tain its highest development. It is of an active temperament, 
which prompts it to travel over a good deal of ground in search 
of its food, and for this reason, while it does not in any way inter- 
fere with other stock, it does not like to be herded in the same 



r 8 ANGORA GOATS. 

flock. Sheep, for instance, are too slow in their movements to 
suit goats, which cover more ground in a day and are more in- 
clined to herd in one bunch and less addicted to scattering. 
However, exceptions to this rule sometimes exist. Where a few 
goats are kept among sheep not herded, the goats will often, for 
the sake of company, stay with the sheep. They are useful in this 
connection, as goats almost invariably come home at night, and 
sheep follow them in, thus often avoiding the danger of having 
any of the flock killed by dogs or wild animals at night. Sheep 
and goats do not interbreed and so can be allowed to run to- 
gether with impunity. 

"Where range of suitable character exists, a pasture of any 
given capacity can carry a flock of Angora goats without detri- 
ment to other stock, because the goats will eat brush and weeds 
which other stock refuse, and will also enrich the more open 
land with their droppings, derived from a class of food which 
would otherwise be wasted. Where confined to a limited area 
they will effectually destroy underbrush by keeping the leaves 
eaten off. They are sometimes kept with this object in view, 
though most breeders who realize their value, give them access 
to ample brush, which they regard just as a sheep man does 
his grass, and for the same reason would not wish to graze it so 
closely as to destroy it. Angora goats will live largely on the 
twigs and bark of sappy underbrush and the leaves of evergreens 
in winter, and are rarely fed in the South at any time of year ; but 
in more northern latitudes, where feeding and sheltering are 
necessary, such provision as is usually accorded to sheep will 
more than suffice to keep Angora goats in the same condition. 
The meat of the Angora goat is excellent and is not distinguish- 
able from mutton of the same age and condition. It is very 
largely sold as such in many of the larger markets, besides be- 
ing regarded as a staple in the districts where it is raised. The 
methods employed in handling Angora goats are in the main 
very much the same as those followed with sheep. They can be 
herded in about the same sized flocks in mountainous ranges as 
sheep can in more level country. The most marked difference 
in the system of management is through the kidding season, 
when, instead of allowing the newly born offspring to follow the 
dam, as is the case with sheep, the kids are kept back in the pen 



ANGORA GOATS. 19 

when the flock goes out in the morning. It is not until they are 
about two months old that it is safe to allow them to run freely 
with their mothers, as the latter cover too much ground for the 
strength of the kids. During the earlier weeks of the life of 
the youngsters they are often allowed to go out of the fold after 
the flock has gone off for the day. They will then content them- 
selves with nibbling the young grass and leaves within easy ac- 
cess of the pen, never leaving it to go any distance until their 
dams return at night. Where handled by experienced breeders 
100 per cent, of kids are often raised to the number of breeding 
does, the few losses being made up by twins, of which about 7 
to 10 per cent, are generally dropped in a flock of well-bred An- 
goras. The percentage of twins in well-bred Angoras is not 
as high as in a flock of common or native goats. 

"The Angora goat," concludes Mr. Hughes, "is rapidly 
coming to the front as an important factor in the solution of the 
difficulty involved in the reclamation of our more mountainous 
districts, and bids fair to appreciably lessen the existing differ- 
ence between the values of our low lying or level land, and those 
which, owing to their hilly and scrubby character, have hitherto 
been regarded as having scarcely any productive value." 



CHAPTER VI. 

Views of a Veteran. 

Col. William M. Landrum, the father of the goat industry 
in Texas, says : "Fifty years ago the Angora goat was all beauty 
and theory. We then knew very few facts concerning the ani- 
mal. Now all the necessary experiments have been made and 
the goat has taken its place at the head of all grazing animals. 
The Angora finds its happiest home in mountainous districts 
and rough land, keeping in superior condition wnere other ani- 
mals would starve. The Angora feeds upon five hundred differ- 
ent herbs in America. It has a larger percentage of increase 



20 ANGORA GOATS. 

than cattle or sheep and a greater value of fleece. When slaugh- 
tered its pelt is worth a good price, and Angora meat is the best 
of mutton. Kansas City buyers are taking all the good shipping 
wethers that can be found in Texas and New Mexico at from 
two to three dollars per head on the mountain ranges. They 
even take for feeders those that are not ripe for slaughter. 

"Even on the low hills Angora goats are a success. My 
neighbor, J. D. Tracy, was for several years connected with an 
old wool house in New York, and came out to Texas for his 
health. After being here a while he bought a herd of common 
and very low graded goats, and came to my herd and purchased 
pure bred Angora bucks, to breed to them. The first clip gave 
him fleece enough to make a cushion for his wagon. As the 
flock increased he continued to get males from our flock. He 
has sold thousands of dollars worth of mutton and could now 
get $5,000 for 1,000 head. He has held close to the same bucks 
and the same line of pure breeds. He sheared in 1898 over 7,- 
500 pounds of fleece and has extended his mountain range to 
7,000 acres. He cleared at least $6,000 in 1899 and will clear $7,- 
000 in 1900 from flock. He bought the goats for company, and 
has thrown his money at the birds. He has made two trips to 
Europe and has plenty of goat money left. During all this time 
he has hired his herders and only made the business a matter of 
pleasure and health. His fondness for his mountain home and 
for his goats has grown until New York has lost its charm 
for him. 

"In regard to the hardihood of Angora goats 1 will give the 
experience of B. D. Butler, of Oregon. He had a flock of 1,500 
sheep and concluded to try goats. I sold him a lot of 500 head 
back in the seventies. He was owing me a balance of $500 on 
the goats, and during the winter he wrote me that he had lost 
every animal he had in the world and was broke. He had camped 
his goats on the east side of the Cascades, about 14 miles from 
the mountains, and the snow storms had covered up his en- 
tire flock, goats and sheep, more than ten feet deep. His shep- 
herd, he said, had barely escaped with his own life. In the fol- 
lowing spring Mr. Butler wrote me that as soon as the snow 
was gone he started out to find the remains of his flock. He dis- 



ANGORA GOATS. 21 

covered the carcasses of his sheep rounded up in a pile, but not 
a goat, hide or horn, was to be found. He proceeded up a gorge 
toward the mountains and after travelling some fifteen miles 
noticed that the fir and pine limbs were barked and many of the 
boughs eaten off. What was his astonishment to finally come 
upon his goats in green grass up to their knees and as fat as 
seals. Not a goat was lost out of the herd. They had wintered 
on at least forty feet of snow. I shall never forget the pleasure 
which he expressed in that letter assuring me that my goat 
money was safe. 

"I will give another case in which the goat proved himself 
to be a mountain master. I sold a flock to a mining company on 
Feather River in California, up in the mountains, for their meat. 
Winter came on and the whole camp was snowbound. The 
snow was eighteen feet deep. There was, fortunately, an empty 
barn in which the goats slept at night. Every day they went to 
the mountains and fed upon the boughs of trees high above the 
earth, returning to the empty barn for shelter regularly when 
night approached. The goats kept fat all winter and furnished 
the miners with meat. 

"While goats can stand any amount of cold and snow, 
sleet and wind are very injurious. On the other hand they can 
endure the scorching heat of the tropics. Their fleece is best at 
an altitude of from 3.000 to 6,000 feet above sea level. The fleece 
never sheds on the Guadalupe Island, 210 miles from San Diego, 
at an altitude of only from 2,000 to 4,000 feet. I have grown 
mohair there two feet long, of lovely texture. We had 80,000 
wild goats roaming on the island without any attention except 
in slaughtering season when we sheared the Angoras and 
slaughtered from 14,000 to 15,000 common goats for their hides 
and tallow. The goats all ran wild and took care of themselves. 
We were not at one dollar of expense on them. 

"It may readily be seen what wild mountain lands, with their 
brush and briars, will be worth when they are utilized for An- 
goras. During the drought in Texas the Angora goat was the 
only animal you could go to a bank with and borrow money on. 
During the financial depression several years ago, nobody could 
get the railroads to haul wool unless the charges were guaran- 



22 ANGORA GOATS. 

teed, but mohair was all the time selling at from twenty-five to 
forty-five cents a pound, saving South Western Texas and New 
Mexico from suffering." 



CHAPTER VII. 
Angora Goats and Their History. 

The Angora goat is a native of Turkey in Asia. The Turks 
look upon the goat with feelings akin to reverence. Mahommed 
decreed a blessing upon all houses where a goat was kept and 
promised that if an angel should pass a house where three goats 
were maintained the angel would look in upon the household. 
Orthodox Turks believe to this day that goats bring peace and 
prosperity. 

The province of Angora is mountainous and furrowed by 
deep valleys. The mean altitude is about three thousand feet. 
The climate is extreme. In January and February the thermo- 
meter ranges from ten degrees Fahrenheit to zero, while in June 
and July it remains in the eighties for days at a time with little or 
no rain. The country is covered with snow in winter. Rain and 
snow fall frequently. 

While the more elevated masses are generally shaded with 
fine forests, the plateaus, which form a large part of the country, 
are very little wooded. This nudity permits the first heat of 
spring to dry up the little humidity which the earth has acquired 
in winter. Abundant pasturage is found for goats only after the 
frosts and snows, when the first warm rains revive the vegeta- 
tion. This time is of short duration, and the stimulus given by 
copious and succulent nourishment is exerted wholly in develop- 
ing the valuable fleeces. The hair or wool of the Angora is 
known as mohair. The shearing, which takes place in April, is 
hardly concluded when the vegetation called forth by the warm 
spring is arrested and dried up, receiving no moisture from the 
dews. This dryness gives to vegetation during summer an aro- 
matic character which makes it peculiarly digestible and stimu- 



ANGORA GOATS. 23 

4 

lating. The geological characteristics of the rocks which under- 
lie the surface is similar to that of the mountainous districts of 
the United States, and it might be interesting to show the adapt- 
ability of the Angora goat to American highlands by scientific 
comparisons, had not the proposition been more conclusively 
proved by experience. 

The modern Angora is a rugged breed formed by crossing 
the original Angora, a more delicate animal, with the Kurd or 
common Turkish goat. The success of such crossing is attested 
by all authorities, and the same policy has been carried out in 
America and South Africa in crossing Angoras with the common 
goats of each country. 

S. C. Cronwright Schreiner, of South Africa, author of an 
up-to-date work on the Angora goat, recently published by 
Longmans, Green & Company, affirms that the crossing of the 
original pure Angora with the Kurd goat in Asia Minor has 
eliminated the original Angora and substituted for it a made 
breed. "This breed," adds Mr. Schreiner, "which is not yet 
quite fixed, but is gradually tending to become so, is a larger, 
somewhat coarser, hardier breed, with an oilier and much 
heavier fleece, which, though not attaining to the high level of 
that of the original pure Angora, is nevertheless in the best 
specimens of great beauty and excellence, and equal to the most 
exacting demands of the present mohair manufacturing trade. 
As the fleeces combine with increased weight a sufficierrtly high 
standard of excellence, and as the goat is hardier and healthier, 
it is the more remunerative breed ; and when stable at the high 
standard it has attained to in the hands of the most intelligent 
breeders, it is superior and preferable to the original pure breed." 

The Angora goat was first introduced into the United 
States from Turkey in 1848. During the Administration of 
President Polk, the Sultan of Turkey requested that a suitable 
person might be sent to that country to conduct some experi- 
ments in the culture of cotton. Dr. James B. Davis, of South 
Carolina, was selected to perform this important service. On 
his return to the United States the Sultan, desiring to show his 
appreciation of the President's courtesy, caused nine of the 
choicest goats of Angora to be presented to Dr. Davis. Of 
these, eight reached America — two bucks and six does. They 



24 ANGORA GOATS. 

were kept by Dr. Davis on his farm near Columbia, and seem to 
have been of a particularly excellent quality. It is reasonable to 
suppose that the conditions under which they were acquired im- 
plied a guarantee of their excellence. This suggestion is borne 
out by the opinion generally held of them in America as com- 
pared with subsequent importations. These goats were after- 
ward purchased by the late Colonel Richard Peters, who se- 
cured them for his farm at Atlanta, Georgia, where he pursued 
the industry with conspicuous intelligence and enthusiasm. Col- 
onel Peters is known as the father of the Angora industry in 
America, and time and the experience of others have verified the 
accuracy of his judgment in questions of management. 

It will thus be seen that the personal gift of the Sultan be- 
came the foundation of the Angora goat business in the New 
World. The record of subsequent importations is not entirely 
complete, but according to the best information obtainable, about 
four hundred Angoras were brought to America from their 
native land up to 1880, when the Sultan issued an edict prohibit- 
ing further exportations from his dominions as injurious to 
Turkish mohair interests. 

The standard American book on the Angora goat was writ- 
ten in 1882 by John L. Hayes, LL. D., Secretary of the National 
Association of Wool Manufacturers and a naturalist of acknowl- 
edged authority. Dr. Hayes is convinced that the Angora goat 
is completely acclimated in the United States, and the race ap- 
pears to have been actually improved in this country in favorable 
locations and under intelligent culture. The notion insisted 
upon in Asia Minor, and formerly entertained here, of the neces- 
sity of a high altitude for the successful culture of the Angora, 
appears to be negatived by experience in this country and else- 
• where. An indispensable condition of success in the Angora 
husbandry in this country is a provision of acclimated stud flocks 
of thoroughbred bucks and ewes for regenerators, meaning, by 
thoroughbred, Angoras imported from Asia Minor of unques- 
tionable selection, and their progeny. The most rapid and ad- 
vantageous method of forminglarge flocks of Angoras is bycross- 
ing thoroughbred Angora bucks upon common does, and the 
does of the resulting product, with the object of merging the 
common race in the superior. Good results are obtained at the 



ANGORA GOATS. 25 

fifth cross. It is indispensable that thoroughbred bucks should 
be invariably used for propagation. Millions of acres of land in 
this country unsuitable for sheep husbandry may be advantage- 
ously occupied by flocks of Angoras, which may be grown at 
half the cost of sheep in their most favorable locations, and with 
at least an equal return in the product of the flocks. 

In discussing the adaptation of Angoras to the climate, soil 
and means of sustenance of the United States Colonel Peters is 
quoted as saying that the comparative dryness generally of our 
climate removes the most formidable obstacle to their culture 
which has been found in Great Britain and the contingent of Eu- 
rope. Except in those localities where excessive moisture pre- 
vails, there are no climatic obstacles to the culture of Angoras in 
the United States. "Angoras," says Colonel Peters, "being not 
properly grazing animals, like sheep, require for their health 
ful sustenance bushes, briers and weeds. In summer, fall and 
spring my flocks are allowed an extensive range through fields 
of grass and woodland fenced in. At these seasons they are not 
sheltered during rain, but return every evening to their 'roost- 
ing' places, near their winter sheds. The flock, starting in the 
morning after sunrise, goes forth to its range, each goat taking 
a bite of grass or of weeds as the flock scatters through the 
woods, proceeding gradually from their home until they fill 
themselves. After this they lie down and ruminate, and sleep for 
several hours. Then they commence their homeward march, 
feeding as they go along, and arriving at their evening quarters 
at about sunset, lie down in the open air, remaining quiet until 
after sunrise the following morning." 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Angora Goat Products. 

William R. Payne, of New York, the best known dealer in 
mohair and goatskins, writes : "The Angora goat has only been 
cultivated in this country about fifty years. Few people know 
its value and fewer still know that mohair is the fleece of this 
animal. The Angora has not yet obtained a status in agricul- 



26 ANGORA GOATS. 

tural journals. Yet it is one of the most valuable of animals, 
for its fleece, pelt and carcass, and one of the easiest and cheap- 
est to cultivate. There are in the whole country now probably 
about 300,000 head of Angoras including all degrees of blood 
near and remote. Of these, probably not over one-third can be 
called 'high' grade even by courtesy. Of pure blood there is 
none, except possibly a flock in a remote region, which has been 
kept intact from cross-breeding, but has been inbred since 1876. 
Of imported animals from Turkey since 1849 there have come 
into the country so far as records show, about 350 Angora rams 
and ewes, many of them of doubtful blood. Of really high char- 
acter and grade probably not over thirty rams, all told, have 
come from Turkey. From this foundation has been bred up the 
present stock. Between cross-breeding and in-breeding what- 
ever pure blood there was has been pretty well eliminated, and 
the crying need now is for good, pure, sound, first-class fresh 
bucks, a registry farm and a new start. It needs some brains, 
energy and money put into it, to make it one of the best paying 
industries there is. Unfortunately, the constituency behind 
the Angora in the United States to-day has not a large vote like 
that back of the sheep. Up-to-date it has been treated like any 
old goat in Shantyville — as not worth the stone that is thrown 
at it. It is impossible to get animals from Turkey without a 
strong pressure from government and diplomatic sources. 

"The most important product of the Angora is the long 
silky, wavy fleece used either pure or in connection with wool, 
silk, linen or carlton, in a variety of fabrics for house-furnishing 
and ladies' goods, brilliantines, linings, braid, plushes, astrachan 
cloth, furniture coverings, curtain material, knit goods, fancy ef- 
fects in shawls and dress goods and numerous other textiles. Its 
value ranges for foreign, from forty-five to fifty cents a pound, 
and for domestic, from twenty-five to thirty-five cents. There 
are consumed annually here about 1,000,000 to 1,125,000 pounds, 
of which the bulk has to be imported, as only about 250,000 to 
300,000 pounds of the domestic product are long enough and of 
character to suit manufacturing needs. The short, low and 
cross-bred hair is used for blankets, lap-robes, rugs, carpets 
and low goods generally, but even then is worth more per pound 
than most sheep wool, varying from ten to twenty-one cents. 
The uses for mohair are increasing every year and new outlets 



ANGORA GOATS. 27 

are being found for it as manufacturers are advancing in the 
variety of their products. 

"Angora skins properly dressed are used white or tinted to 
manufacture rugs, robes, carriage mats, fur sets for children, 
trimming for ladies' furs, and, also, for dusters, horse-head tas- 
sels, doll hair and wigs. They are mostly imported raw from the 
Cape of Good Hope and Turkey, and range in value, duty paid, 
from $1.50 up to $3.50 each, undressed. Domestic skins are in 
very limited supply, and are worth from 50 cents each for kids 
up to $2 each for large full-fleeced pelts. The low, cross-bred, 
common skins and short pelts not suitable to dress are used by 
morocco and glove leather manufacturers, and are worth from 
15 to 18 cents a pound for large sizes, down to 10 and 11 cents 
for small ones and kids* The flesh of the Angora is said to be 
excellent mutton and pronounced as good as Southdown. It is 
quite largely eaten in the West and in the East also, if people 
only knew it. There is a prejudice against the name of goat 
meat, but those who know say it is very good. The horns can 
be utilized in a variety of ways, and not a part of the animal but 
has a value. 

"We may add that the climatic conditions and food supply 
of a large part of our mountainous country is admirably adapted 
to Angora ranges, and there is not a State in the Union, east or 
west, in which they cannot be grown to good advantage. An- 
other point is that notwithstanding the inbreeding, cross-breed- 
ing and inability to get fresh blood, American ranchmen have 
improved the stock they had to work with, just as they improved 
the original Merino sheep, and believe, if given the material 
to do with, they will in time produce a better animal, larger 
and finer, than the original stock with nearly 3,000 years of his- 
tory behind it." 



CHAPTER IX. 

Milk Goats. 

While the aristocratic Angora is in many respects the most 
fascinating of the goat species, there are other varieties equally 



28 ANGORA GOATS. 

hardy in character and especially valuable for their milk and 
skins. Milk goats are most generally raised in England, Ire- 
land, France, Switzerland and the Island of Malta. Out of goat 
milk are made Roquefort, Mont D'Or, Le Sassenage, Levroux 
and many other favorite cheeses. The milk of the goat is rich 
and easily digested, and wholly free from the diseases which fre- 
quently affect the milk of the cow. 

The British Goat Society, of which the Baroness Burdett- 
Coutts is President, is doing a great work in the encouragement 
of goat raising throughout the United Kingdom. The purposes 
of the society are set forth as follows : "This society has been 
instituted in order to bring more prominently forward the utility 
and adaptability of the goat as a milk supply. It is a well estab- 
lished fact that in rural districts the families of the poor rarely 
taste other than skim milk, in consequence of the difficulty of 
procuring the pure article as it comes from the cow. It is either 
sent wholesale to London or the nearest town, or utilized at once 
in the manufacture of butter and cheese. On the continent and 
in Ireland the goat is regarded as the poor man's cow, supplying 
as it does many a peasant family with this most important article 
of diet, the deficiency of which, among our own laborer's chil- 
dren must act detrimentally in regard to their physical develop- 
ment. The goat is especially adapted for such a purpose. It 
supplies just enough milk for the ample requirements of an or- 
dinary household during the greater part of the year, and as it 
eats with avidity almost every kind of herb and vegetable, and 
is besides of a hardy nature, it is kept with little trouble and at 
almost nominal expense." 

The prevalence of tuberculosis in cows is a cause for alarm, 
and the attention of the medical fraternity and the general pub- 
lic is attracted to the utility of goat milk. Consumption of the 
bones or some particular organ of the body frequently results 
from taking into the system milk from tuberculous cows. 

In a recent address before the Huddersfield Technical Col- 
lege in England, Sir William Broadbent said : "Cows are very 
subject to tuberculosis, and at a certain stage of the disease tu- 
bercle bacilli are present in the milk. It is through milk so con- 
taminated that children come to have tuberculous disease. The 
disease of bones and joints to which children are subject are 



ANGORA GOATS. 29 

probably also traceable to milk ; humpback, hip-joint disease, 
and the diseases of knees, elbows, etc., which cripple so many 
children ; perhaps so is lupus, and no doubt tubercle is often im- 
planted by milk in early life, which develops later into consump- 
tion." 

Sir William Broadbent subsequently goes on to say : "It is 
interesting to note that asses and goats do not suffer from tuber- 
culosis, and to bear in mind that the shrewd physicians of past 
days used to order asses' and goats' milk for persons threatened 
with consumption." 

H. S. Homes Pegler, Secretary of the British Goat Society, 
and author of the "Book of the Goat," in speaking of Sir William 
Broadbent's address, says: "In France this subject has received 
more attention. Professor Nocard stated some seven or eight 
years since that out of 130,000 goats and kids brought to Paris 
for slaughter at the shambles of La Villette every spring, the 
meat inspectors of that city failed to discover a single case of 
tuberculosis. He even added that inoculation fails to introduce 
the fatal bacillus into the system of the goat, although I believe 
the statement has since been questioned; any way, I have been 
told by veterinary authorities in this country that attempts made 
in England have failed. Goats' milk as a diet for children has 
many advantages over cows' milk, as I have often demonstrated, 
but this one great virtue transcends all others, and it is incon- 
ceivable that parents knowing this, and having the opportunities 
and accommodation for goat-keeping, should not avail them- 
selves of so simple and economical a means of at once providing 
their children with the most easily digestible and most nourish- 
ing of food, and safeguarding them from one of the greatest evils 
that civilization of the present day is subject to." 

Dr. Adolph H. Allshorn, Licentiate of the Royal College of 
Physicians, Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons, and 
Physician to the Homeopathic Hospitals, Manchester and London, 
says : "As a substitute for the mother's milk to children deprived 
of that necessary, goats' milk has no equal, and notwithstanding 
the similarity in composition (as revealed by analysis), no one 
who has seen its effects can doubt its superiority to cows' milk. 
In diseased conditions of infancy, when there is a tendency to de- 
ficient assimilation in tubercular disease, Rachitis, Exophthalmic 
Goitre, I have proved its success, and have succeeded in rearing 

\ 



30 



ANGORA GOATS. 



a third or fourth child of a family, the previous children of which 
have died in infancy from hereditary disease. Children brought 
up on goats' milk for a time after weaning from the mother will 
compare more than favorably with those brought up under like 
conditions on cows' milk. I believe that goats' milk in senil con- 
ditions is of the utmost value, and know that it has a retarding 
effect in cases of Atheroma, whether this is due to the peculiar 
acid (Hircie) which it contains I am unable to say with certainty." 
The successful crossing of milk goats with Angoras is be- 
lieved by many to be practicable. Dr. Hayes publishes in his 
book a letter from J. W. Watts of South Carolina, who gave his 
experience as follows : "Even here, seventy-five miles from the 
mountains, I have for six years grown most successfully the An- 
gora goat, whose flesh I regard as superior to any mutton, and 
whose fleece properly handled could in the Blue Ridge Mountain 
region be made more profitable than any wool growing. This I 
can say from actual experience with Angoras, which are of Asia 
Minor stock, meeting here few obstacles to their profitable 
breeding, and which in the Blue Ridge just beyond me would 
find an exact counterpart of their native soil and climate. Aside 
from their flesh and wool there is another advantage they offer, 
which in the mountains beyond would be most valuable. In a 
cross I have made with a pure Angora buck and a Maltese ewe 
goat I have raised a ewe goat that will give four quarts per day 
of as good milk as any cow on my plantation. The feed of one of 
my cows will keep twelve goats. My cows must have certain 
food or they will not thrive. My goats will eat anything, almost, 
and do well, and with this advantage, also, that their milk and 
butter are not in any way affected by their diet." 



CHAPTER X. 

Starting In the Goat Business. 

George A. Hoerle of New Jersey, well known as Secretary 
of the American Mohair Growers' Association, and himself an 
experienced and scientific breeder, is a firm believer in the An- 



ANGORA GOATS. 31 

gora goat industry in the United States. There are very few 
States in the Union, says Mr. Hoerle, which have not millions of 
acres of brushy mountain land of next to no value located from 
an altitude of 400 or 500 feet above the sea level to 6,000 or 8,000 
feet, depending much upon the latitude of the land, which would 
offer a perfect paradise to the Angora goat, and would if stocked 
with these animals be a source of ever increasing profits to their 
owners, and the amount of money which would be required 
would be so low compared to the profits which could be realized 
by an intelligent caretaker that the cost usually should not be In 
the way of anybody who wishes to engage in the enterprise. 

The farmer whose farm partly consists of scrub mountain 
land would have the advantage, and to him Angora goats would 
be entirely supernumerary, offering the greatest chances for 
large profits. All he has to do is to fence a piece of land into two 
pastures, turn his goats on them alternately, sometimes in one, 
sometimes in the other ; drive them out at daybreak and bring 
them back at sundown. If possible he should connect the pas- 
tures with his barn, where he should construct an open shed or 
hovel. Anything that will turn rain would be sufficient. Upon 
arrival at their roosting place feed them some little grain, and 
thev soon will not have to be driven in any more, but be there 
in time for the sweet morsel. 

The owner of Angora goats should procure at kidding time 
two or three suckling pups of some strong breed of dog, but if 
possible with a strain of collie in them, and raise these pups on 
a kidless doe (a common one would be preferable) until they are 
laree enough to follow the goats. Such dogs will become so at- 
tached to the breed of their foster mother that they will fisfht for 
them until death anything in the shape of four or two legged 
curs that would venture near their charge and be the most relia- 
ble of shepherds. Two or three dogs thus brousfht up with goats 
could be trusted with the management of a flock of sheep of as 
much a? two or three thousand, and with very little extra instruc- 
tion would herd them as well and with as much sense of duty as 
any hired shepherd and be far cheaper. I am often asked ques- 
tions in regard to the cost of goats and whether common goats 
or Aneoras would pay best for a start. 

Common goats are not high in price, but the item of freight 
is considerable. This cost may be ascertained from the nearest 



JUL 5 1905 

32 ANGORA GOATS. 

railroad agent. It is only natural that for goats yielding very 
heavy fleeces very large prices should have to be paid, and of 
course also to the above prices the freight would have to be 
added. 

But the Angora goat industry must to-day be considered a 
very safe and at the same time very profitable investment, pro- 
vided the personality of the new beginner is suited to it, and if 
his means are adequate to his own personal demands or those of 
his family. The land is steadily increasing in value, and his stock 
is constantly improving. Thus his income as well as his property 
will steadily increase. 

The goat industry promises to furnish a solution of some of 
the problems which have baffled the wisest statesmen and socio- 
logists. The utilization of 265,000,000 acres of now worthless 
land is in itself a proposition which challenges the broadest com- 
prehension. The worn-out farms of New England, never noted 
for superior fertility, afford a rich field for goat raising, and the 
disheartened descendants of the Puritans may here find profita- 
ble and permanent occupation suitable to their impaired means 
and ambitions. 

Scrub lands are especially prevalent in southern localities 
where the lower negro element is thickest. Goat herding would 
be an occupation more congenial perhaps to these indolent peo- 
ple than any other, while it might be a valuable factor in their 
regeneration. While skill is a good thing, even in goat raising, it 
is certain that unskilled labor is more available in this industry 
than in any other, and the influence of the goat upon American 
social conditions may soon lead us to look upon this animal with 
appreciation. We may even understand why the goat was an 
object of worship among many ancient people. 



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